Who’s in England’s Rugby World Cup squad?
England head coach Steve Borthwick named his 33-man Rugby World Cup this morning ahead of next month’s showpiece event.
The former Leicester Tiger has been trimming his squad over the last two months and has made a number of eyebrow raising decisions as he looks to turn an England side he inherited last December into World Cup winners.
England ins and outs
Exeter Chiefs centre and 50-cap England international Henry Slade has been excluded from the squad, as have Saracens back-row Tom Willis and Northampton Saints’ Tom Pearson.
Alex Dombrandt, who managed to cement down the No8 shirt recently, has also been excluded after a poor performance last weekend against Wales in Cardiff.
Gloucester’s veteran winger Jonny May does not make the side, neither does Newcastle Falcons hooker Jamie Blamire.
In comes young Saracens hooker Theo Dan, utility back Joe Marchant and speedster Henry Arundell.
Despite England having a policy of not selecting overseas players, Marchant, Arundell, Jack Willis and David Ribbans will all be playing their rugby in the French Top14 after the World Cup and are technically under contract with clubs across the channel.
Each asterisks in the squad below represents a World Cup tournament played.
Squad forwards
- Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 9 caps)
- Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 100 caps)***
- Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 45 caps)*
- Theo Dan (Saracens, 1 cap)
- Ben Earl (Saracens, 15 caps)
- Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 49 caps)*
- Jamie George (Saracens, 77 caps)**
- Maro Itoje (Saracens, 67 caps)*
- Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 97 caps)***
- Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 20 caps)*
- Joe Marler (Harlequins, 79 caps)**
- George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)
- David Ribbans (Toulon, 6 caps)
- Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 3 caps)
- Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 62 caps)*
- Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 26 caps)
- Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 68 caps) **
- Jack Walker (Harlequins, 3 caps)
- Jack Willis (Toulouse, 10 caps)
Squad backs
- Henry Arundell (Racing 92, 7 caps)
- Danny Care (Harlequins, 88 caps)*
- Elliot Daly (Saracens, 57 caps)*
- Owen Farrell (Saracens, 106 caps)**
- George Ford (Sale Sharks, 82 caps)**
- Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 11 caps)
- Max Malins (Bristol Bears, 19 caps)
- Joe Marchant (Stade Francais, 16 caps)
- Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 22 caps)
- Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps)
- Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 51 caps)**
- Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 13 caps)
- Anthony Watson (unattached, 55 caps)**
- Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 122 caps)***
What England coach says
“Rugby World Cups involve unique challenges in terms of the demands on players, the need for squad flexibility and the limited number of squad places available,” said Borthwick.
“France 2023 is no different, but I am confident we have selected a squad of 33 that is well able to meet those challenges and leave us best placed to be at our most competitive in this exciting tournament.
“There have been a number of very difficult selection decisions to make, given the quality of our wider training squad. Some very good players have missed out on selection such has been the competition for places over the last eight weeks and more of preparation.
“As Saturday’s game in Cardiff [20-9 loss to Wales] proved, we have a series of demanding Test matches through August as we continue that preparation towards our opening Rugby World Cup pool game against an in-form Argentina side.”